Speight 1
“Ozzzie, Ozzzie, Ozzzie”
“Mom…Dad, I know what I want to be when I grow up,” I said, exhibiting a self-assuredness that only a five-year-old could possess. My velour-robed parents paused, taking a break from their early morning ritual of strong black coffee and Marlboro Red cigarettes.
“What’s that, Mel?” Dad asked, eying Mom as she smiled between her sips and puffs.
“I’m going to play shortstop for the Cardinals. I’m going to be the next Ozzie Smith.”
“Sounds good to me,” Dad affirmed. “Just make sure Mom and I get tickets to your first game.”
* * *
While my love of baseball and its sister-sport softball started long before that morning, my fascination with Ozzie began the night before, as my family and I attended our first Cardinal game together. Sitting in the cheap seats behind left field with my new friends the “bleacher bums,” I was mesmerized by Ozzie’s flips, hits, steals, and play; moreover, when the crowd began to chant “Ozzzie, Ozzzie, Ozzzie,” I was sold. I told myself, Ozzie is truly great! I continue to embrace that same sentiment, even after hanging up my own cleats, but now I wonder, what made Ozzie Smith one of the world’s truly great players?
Standing at 5’11” and weighing between 150 to 165 pounds when he played (Doyle), Smith was not a big player or a power hitter like the Mark McGwires of today. Smith commanded celebrity and brought glamour to baseball by back-flipping his way onto the field, but stylistically, he shinedbecause of his extraordinary defense. In fact, Smith’s skills were recognized and rewarded the first year he was eligible for the Hall of Fame by 91.7 percent of the vote (National). Smith exhibited a sense of grace and ease playing shortstop that none have surpassed yet manyhave tried to emulate, including me.
With the grace of a Barishnikov and the speed of a Jesse Owens, Smith claimed the shortstop position as his own. He was an agile player with a wide range, covering a tremendous amount of ground, and he compensated for his size and resulting lack of arm strength with a quick release. He was the type of player who was willing to lay-out for any ball in order to prevent a runner from taking a base or scoring a run. For instance, while playing for the Padres as a rookie in 1978, Smith robbed the Brave’s Jeff Burroughs of a base hit by not only diving for the line shot at second base but also by bare-handing the ball as it took a “bad hop” (Doyle). Still, it was Smith’s “consistency and dependency” that made this thirteen-time Golden Glove winner the champion of defense. In a 2002 interview for Baseball Digest, Smith stressed the importance of consistency and downplayed grandstanding. “I prided myself on making the routine play day in and day out. I prided myself on making not just the great play, but on concentrating on the routine plays. That’s what separated me from the crowd,” Smith said. “Most guys can make the occasional spectacular play. If you make the routine plays, the spectacular ones take care of themselves” (Doyle). And the result of this philosophy? Smith became a “standout” athlete and a crowd favorite.
Smith also played a thinking-man’s game. He didn’t just rely on talent and couldn’t just rely on power; so, he became a student of the game, studying the players before he took the field. Dedicated to his craft, Smith said, “Having a game plan is part of being prepared. Anybody who is truly interested in what they do will work and study at their job” (Doyle). He proved that one of the greatest muscles an athlete must exercise is his mind.
At the plate, Smith’s efforts were often downplayed and defined simply as “effective” (“Featured”). But few recognize the significance of that description. A switch-hitter, Smith never had more than six homeruns a season; still, as one sports reported commented, “Smith pulled his weight offensively in subtle less publicized way” (Doyle). Smith, for instance, racked up 2,460 hits and 580 stolen bases. He went with the pitch, not trying to force the big hit but putting the ball in play. As my father might say, “he made things happen.”
While I never made it to the Majors, Ozzie Smith’s style of play amazed me and many others and influenced my own 20-plus year career in softball. Standing at 5’3”, I still loomed large on the field, as I saw myself in him, and Ozzie’s styleof play became my measure because he taught me one very important lesson—that the spectacular was the routine.
Works Cited
Doyle, Al. “Defense Opened the Doors: Ozzie Smith—Hall of Famer with a Steady Glove and a
Whole Lot More.” Baseball Digest1 Apr. 2002. 30 Jan. 2006
“Featured Sports Personalities: Ozzie Smith.” Speaking of Sports.com1 Feb. 2006
< sports.com/speakers/Smith.htm>.
National Baseball Hall of Fame. 2005. 1 Feb. 2006